Gas-engine



H. E. MAY.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED QCT-. 195.

l 3 l 3, OO 1 Patented Aug. 12, 191.9.

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H. E. MAY.

@As ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-6. 1915.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFIOE.

' HARRY E. MAY, 0F SEDALIA, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO HOLMES HALL, ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM D. OBANNON, AND ONE-TWELFTI-I TO WILLIAM M. MAY,

ALL OF SEDALIA, MISSOURI.

GAS-ENGINE.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

Application filed October 6, 1915. Serial No. 54,344.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I; HARRY E. MAY, a citizen of the United States; residing in the city of Sedalia, county of Pettis; and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines; of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to improvements in gas engines and refers more particularly to that type of gas engine in which the inlet and exhaust of the gases from the engine cylinders is controlled by a rotary valve member.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a construction in which the rotary valve member takes the form of a short cylinder in which the gases, inlet and exhaust through the sides of the cylinder as contra-distinguished from a rotating top plate; to provide a construction in which the gases intake and exhaust through the same ports in the rotating head to avoid local overheating of the rotating valve member; to provide a construction in which the rotating valve member is mounted entirely above and out of the way of the piston; thus avoiding frictional contact between the rotating valve member and the reciprocating piston; to provide a construction in which the valve ports of the rotating valve member register through a considerable portion of their travel with the intake ports of the cylinder in order to insure a complete feed of the gas; to provide a construction in which the size and position of the valve ports may be readily varied and timed to suit any size or stroke of engine; to provide an improved method of lubricating the various operating parts of the engine and particularly to provide improved means for lubricating the rotating valve member; to provide a construction which is preferably equipped with an air chamber in the top of the rotary valve member to prevent local overheating of the bearings; to provide a construction which is adapted to obtain a maximum eficiency with a minimum amount of wear on the various operating parts and which obviates the diliculties and objections attendant upon the valve known as the puppet valve type of motor; to provide a construction which is economical of manufacture and simple in operation and in general to provide an improved construction of the character referred to.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my engine with parts broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on lines 2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 isa top plan view with parts .broken away and showing the details of construction v Fig. 5 lis a side elevation of the rotary valve lmember with a part of the frame shown in section;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the valve member with the ball bearings removed;

` Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on lines 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings- 1 designates as a whole a crank case, and

2 the crank shaft, andV 3 the fly wheel.

Above the crank case is mounted a cylinder base casting 4 having four cylinders 5 5. The upper ends of the cylinders are closed by a wall member 6. The cylinders are provided with water jackets 7 The pistons 8 reciprocate in the cylinders and are connected by piston rods 9 to the crank shaft.

The upper end of each cylinder is provided with an intake port 10 and an exhaust port 11. As shown, each port extends through 80 of the circumference of the cylinder and is of thetype shown in Fig. 3. Gas enters the inlet ports through inlet manifolds 12 connected to the carbureter (not shown); and passes out of the exhaust ports or manifolds 13.

Describing now the rotary valve member which forms one of the essential features of the invention, within the upper end of each cylinder is mounted a similar rotary valve member 14, each (provided at their upper ends with a hollow stem 15 extending through suitable openings in the top plate 6. This rotary valve member is preferably, although not necessarily, provided with an air chamber 16 open to the atmosphere as shown at 17. Between the head end 18 of each rotary valve member and top plate 6 of the cylinders are interposed ball bearings 19. To the outer end of each stem 1G is fiXedly secured a spiral gear 2O and between the lower end of the gear and top of the plate 6, are also interposed ball bearings 2l. These ball bearings 19 and 2l serve to reduce the frictional contact of the rotary valve member with the stationary parts and also to take up any end thrusts. The upper end of each valve member is provided with packing 22 and the lower end with similar rings 23 to prevent leakage of gas. Each valve member is provided with a single eport 24 of the shape and size shown in Fig. 5. The shape and size of the ports of course, can be varied as conditions require. rfhe arrangement of the valve ports is suoli that the inlet to the cylinder will be open through 80O 0f the travel of the rotary valve member and the same is true of the exhaust port. Accordingly, a maxi* mum inlet and exhaust port area is obtained with a relatively small port area in the rotary valve member.

Describing now the manner in which the rotary valve members are driven, the gears 20. mesh with spiral gears 25 mounted on a gear shaft 26, suitably supported in bearings 27. The shaft Q6 is provided at one end with a bevel gear Q8 meshing with another bevel gear Q9 carried by vertical shaft 30 suitably mounted in bearings 3l. T he lower end of the shaft 30 is provided with a bevel gear 3Q which in turn meshes with a bevel gear 33 fixed to the crank shaft. rfhe arangement is such that the rotary valve members of necessity rotate in timed relation with the crank shaft. Y The parts are so timed that the shaft makes tjvo revolutions with every one revolution of the rotary valve member.

It is to be noted that the up-stroke of the piston terminates at the lower end of the rotary valve member and accordingly the piston does not come into frictional engagement with the rotary valve member. The upper end of the cylinder casing is closed by a cap plate 34 apertured to permit of the insertion of spark plugs 35.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Describing now the manner of lubricating the rotary valve member, on the crank case is mounted a mechanical oiler, of any commercial construction, designated as a whole 36. This oiler is driven from shaft 3l by suitable gears 37 and 38, through four pipes 39, 39, there being one for each cylinder. Each of the pipes 39 is provided with a branch 40, which leads to a suitable opening 4l in the top plate 34. The oil passes through the opening 41 into the gears 25. The oil works through the gears 25 and the gears 20 to an opening 42 in the top plate 6, and thence through an opening 43 in the upper end of the valve member. The oil then passes from the opening 43 into recesses 44 formed in the outer face of the rotary valve member. In each of these recesses is'inserted a spreader bar 45 apertured at 4G to permit the oil to escape into the face of the rotary valve member. The spreader bar is thrust outwardly .by suitable leaf spring 47. In order to secure a more even distribution of oil over the valve member, the latter is also provided with a second spreader bar 48 mounted in a suitable vertical recess 49 and pressed outwardly by spring 50. Preferably, also the Valve member is vertically scored as shown at 51, 5l. Also, preferably each valve member is counterbalanced by having upon the side where the valve ports are situated an eXtension 52, the object being to make the valve member of even weight throughout.

The invention is not limited to the details of construction shown. The operation is apparent from the foregoing description and therefore need not be described in detail.

I claim as my invention:

In a gas engine, the combination with a cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports, of a cylindrical rotary valve member mounted in the upper end of said cylinder and provided at one side with a vertically extending port, of means for counter-balancing the ported side of said valve member to evenly distribute the weight throughout the circumference of the latter.

HARRY E. MAY.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

